1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dispensing bottle permitting a controlled and optionally metered dispensing of its contents while offering a comfortable grip. Moreover, the bottle may be provided with a sealing system which prevents degradation, in particular by air, of the product during its storage and/or between uses.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the pharmaceutical or cosmetic field, gels and creams are usually stored in pots provided with a simple lip and are taken up by dipping the finger directly in the pot. This practice has two drawbacks, i.e., microbial contamination introduced into the stored product, and the lack of precise metering of the product.
The use of a dropper bottle for metered dispensing of a liquid product is known. A dropper bottle usually comprises a reservoir having a squeezable bulb at one of its ends and a constricted opening at the other end. Air is expelled from the reservoir by actuating the bulb, the end having the constricted opening is immersed in a bottle containing the product to be metered, and the product enters the reservoir upon relaxation of the bulb. The product is subsequently dispensed by actuating the bulb.
Such dropper bottle systems are not suitable for the dispensing of products with a creamy consistency such as gels, or viscous products in general. Indeed, products of this consistency can only rise with difficulty through the constrictor, since air bubbles are drawn into the reservoir at the same time as the product, and a proportion of the product inevitably remains stuck on the outer wall of the dropper bottle. Moreover, with each use of the dropper bottle it must be assumed that the bottle has previously been opened, and hence that the product has been placed into contact with the oxygen of the air.
Bottles with deformable walls and a constricting end are also known, offering a metered dispensing of the contained product by simple pressure on the walls. These bottles, being manually compressed, have the drawback that they do not afford very precise dosing. Moreover, since their walls are deformable, they can only be carried in luggage with certain precautions, i.e., being protected from pressure and shocks. Although the addition of a leakproof closing system to the constrictor makes it possible to avoid accidental leakages, there still remains the risk of the walls of the bottle yielding under unduly high pressure. Furthermore, such bottles tend to become deformed in the course of time, in particular to keep the concave shape imparted by the manual pressure. The deformable plastic materials of which these bottles are made are not suitable for the packaging of luxury products for which more rigid materials are preferred. Moreover, the expensive products are dispensed in small quantities, and it is not known how to make bottles of a small size with deformable walls and offering a complete return of excess dispensed product.
For example, devices are known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,879, FR-A-733446, FR-A-1248664, FR-A-2411140, FR-A-1164796 and FR-A-771150 which comprise a reservoir cavity filled by a product to be dispensed, one end of the cavity comprising a pressure-increasing means, the other a braking system. However, none of these documents mentions any sealing device for single or semi-permanent use.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,305 there is known a sealing device for single use applied to the top of the neck of a bottle. This device consists of an aluminum foil cover and a tip which can pierce this cover foil before the first use. However, this document does not suggest in any way the use of such a device in any application other than on the neck of a bottle.
FR-A-2656240 describes a semipermanent sealing device for the filling and dispensing a product contained in a reservoir formed by a flexible pouch. This document neither describes nor suggests the application of such a device to an application other than the filling and dispensing from a reservoir.